TikTok is making big moves to court small businesses.
The social media giant just announced "Small Biz Fest," a nationwide initiative to support entrepreneurs with a cool $1 million in ad credits. That breaks down to about $2,000 in credits for 500 eligible businesses, plus one-on-one onboarding support.
This isn't just TikTok being generous…it's a strategic play to capture more of the small business advertising market that has traditionally belonged to Facebook and Instagram.
The timing couldn't be more perfect. With Facebook ad costs continuing to rise and Instagram's algorithm changes frustrating many business owners, TikTok is positioning itself as the new land of opportunity for small brands.
But TikTok isn't just wooing small businesses. They're also beefing up their offerings for bigger brands with deeper pockets.
They just introduced Pulse Core, a generative AI-powered ad product that places brands next to the top 4% of trending user-generated content across categories like sports, beauty, and seasonal events. This builds on their Pulse Suite, which launched in 2022 as a way for advertisers to tap into trending For You feed videos.
What's particularly interesting is how TikTok is trying to clean up its marketplace to attract bigger brands. They've spent almost $1 billion attempting to crack down on IP violations in TikTok Shop, but they've still got work to do.
From July to December 2024, the platform blocked more than 7 million items from being listed, shut down 900 stores for IP infringements, expanded their global IP specialist team from 1,400 to 1,800, removed 675,000 videos and livestreams promoting IP-infringing goods, and revoked the selling privileges of 16,000 creators.
Why all this effort? Because TikTok wants big-name brands like LVMH and Sephora on its platform, and these luxury players won't play in a space filled with knockoffs.
For marketers, these developments present some interesting opportunities and challenges.
First, if you're a small business that hasn't explored TikTok yet, now might be the time. Those ad credits could give you a risk-free way to test the waters, and the dedicated Small Biz Fest could provide additional visibility.
Third, the platform's commitment to cleaning up counterfeits could make it a more viable channel for premium brands that have previously stayed away. If you've been hesitant to sell on TikTok Shop because of brand protection concerns, it might be worth another look.
But perhaps the most interesting development for marketers is QVC's partnership with TikTok for an eight-hour livestream shopping event targeted at women over 50. This "Age of Possibility" initiative shows how the platform is expanding beyond its Gen Z roots to capture older, higher-spending demographics.
The livestream will feature ambassadors, around 100 creators, exclusive product drops, and panel conversations – all designed to "empower" (read: sell to) women over 50.
For brands targeting this demographic, this is a fascinating new frontier. Could TikTok become the new QVC for the digital age? And could livestream shopping finally take off in the US after years of false starts?
Social commerce is changing fast, and TikTok is making aggressive moves to position itself at the center of it all. Companies should be watching these developments closely – and perhaps setting aside some budget to experiment with these new opportunities.
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